Category:German

    

From Namespedia - Names Meaning and Origins

German is part of the so called Germanic languages group, together with Scandinavian, Dutch, Flemish and English. The Germanic languages are descended from the prehistoric ancestor called proto-Germanic, a branch of the Indo-European family of languages. German is the official language of Germany, Switzerland (beside French, Italian and Romansh) and Austria. As dialect German is spoken in Luxembourg, eastern France ( Alsace and Lorraine), northern Italy (former Austria’s territory), other eastern Europe regions and outside Europe in Brazil, South Africa, Australia and United States. History: as the Roman Empire was officially converted to Christianity in 213 A.D., the Germanic tribes followed the same process and the Bible was translated for local use. During that period of time two geographical dialects formed: Low German (Plattdeutsch) and High German (Hochdeutsch).The many dialects that further developed are not mutually intelligible. The name “German” (Deutsch) derived from the old diutisc, with the meaning “belonging to the people”. In the 11th century this word was used for both the language and the country. Today German is spoken by about 100 million native speakers and about 80 million non-native speakers as the language is thought in schools and universities around the world.

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